Since 1978, more than 7,000 children worldwide have received much needed medical care, thanks to the vision of an area physician.

In the spring of that year, Dr. William B. Riley Jr., found himself staring in disbelief at the deformed faces of more than 300 children at a rural hospital in the Philippines. As a visiting plastic surgeon, the sight of those children, with no means of getting the life-altering surgery they needed, inspired Riley to form Operation Rainbow.

Since that time, Riley's vision has evolved into a network of more than 1,000 medical volunteers, and helped more than 7,000 children get the medical help they needed.

"After operating on 15 children over two days during that first visit, I knew I had to return. On the long flight home, I resolved to ask some of my colleagues to join me the next year," Riley said.

Since that initial visit, Riley and his colleagues have provided free reconstructive surgery to children in the United States and medically underserved counties in Asia, the Middle East, and Central and South America. During that time, Operation Rainbow volunteers have provided more than $60 million in medical services for under $4 million.

Riley stressed that no public funds are used by Operation Rainbow. Participating physicians and health-care professionals donate their services, with transportation and medical costs paid by private donations.

"We receive no government funding. Operation Rainbow has succeeded, oftentimes it seems, through the sheer willpower of our physicians, nurses, non-medical volunteers and a handful of benefactors," Riley said.

Over the last two years, Riley has made three trips to Palestine, the most recent in September, under the sponsorship of the Palestine Children's Relief Fund. During that visit, six plastic surgeons performed 153 operations over the course of eight days on children with congenital malformations, burns, tumors and similar conditions.

"Steve Sosebee with the Palestine Children's Relief Fund found us on the Internet and asked for our help. There is a great need for reconstructive services on the West Bank, and we already have plans to return in September of next year," Riley said.

Operation Rainbow focuses on orthopedic surgery and plastic surgery. A typical year involves 10-12 trips into developing counties, transitional countries or poor areas of developed nations.

Mission teams consist of between eight and 25 members from across the nation. The average cost to treat a single patient is $850.

In an average year, teams provide more than $5 million worth of surgical services to more than 1,000 children. Orthopedic services are primarily handled out of the Oakland-San Francisco area, with Riley heading up the plastic surgery mission from Houston.

Dr. Dave Atkin, a volunteer surgeon from San Francisco, said that working with Operation Rainbow has been one of the most satisfying opportunities in his career.

"Caring for children in the developing world has provided me with some of the finest experiences in my life," Atkin said.

Operation Rainbow consists of four basic programs. The Domestic Program works with health-care partners to provide cost-free care to indigent children in American communities.

Local participants in the Domestic Program include the Memorial Hermann Heathcare System, Texas Children's Hospital, Spring Branch Hospital and Methodist Hospital.

The Sponsor a Nurse Program and the Physician Program brings foreign nurses and physicians to the United States for advanced medical training. With this training, the health-care professionals can help their medical colleagues become more self-sustaining in their home countries.

The Sponsor a Child Program brings children with complex medical needs to the United States to receive treatment unavailable in their home countries. Participants include the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, Shiner's Hospital, the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and Stanford Medical School.